Thunderbolt
by RainbowDashFanClub
Summary: The story of a perfectly normal stallion who did nothing special, a story of daily life and daily love. It... just happens to involve Rainbow Dash. Loads of token jokes and Easter eggs for those who pay attention to both my other stories and the original of what my other stories are about.
1. Finding a Rainbow

"Now, I hope Rainbow Dash is around here someplace…" muttered a dark blue pegasus stallion with a golden, windswept mane as he flew into Ponyville. He landed and was immediately greeted by a pink earth pony. He walked up to her and said, "Oh, hi there!" She erupted in a gigantic gasp and zoomed off. "Well that was weird," he said. Then he was walking and almost walked into another pony. "Oh, hello there!" said the pink pony, "You… don't look very familiar, are you new here?" "As a matter of fact, yes," he said, "I've come to find Rainbow Dash. Have you seen her around?" "No," said the pony, her curly green mane shifting on her forehead as the strong wind blew, "Mister…" "I don't exactly have a name," said the pony sheepishly, "But I'd imagine you do…" "Daisy," said the pony, demonstrating her cutie mark which was of a daisy, "I grow them in my garden." "Makes sense," said the stallion, "Well, I'll be going now, thanks for your help, Daisy!" "Don't mention it!" exclaimed Daisy as she pranced off.

Then he flew up into the air again, having had a fleeting thought that, since she was an expert flier, Rainbow would be in the air. And in the air she was, sleeping on a cloud. He didn't exactly want to wake her; she looked so cute while she slept. However, he did come to ask for flying lessons. Yes, he could fly, but not all that well. He landed on the cloud and gently nudged her. Rainbow woke instantly, sort of half-falling off the cloud and then catching herself to hover shortly above his head. "Whatcha want, kid?" asked Rainbow Dash. "That. Was. AWESOME!" was all he could say. "Yeah, tons of ponies come up to fanspazz over me, anything new?" said Rainbow, mock-yawning. "Oh, yeah," he said, remembering the reason he'd come and fiddling with his mane nervously, "I… I was wondering…" "Yeah, spit it out!" said Rainbow, tapping her hoof impatiently. "If you'd give me flying lessons!" he said (finally). "Yeah, sure, kid," said Rainbow with a slight gesture of her hoof, "We start tomorrow. Be here at 6:00 a.m. sharp. See ya."

The next morning at 6:00, he went to the same exact place where there was the same cloud with Rainbow standing on it, waiting for him. "First things first," said Rainbow when he arrived, "What's your name? Of course you know mine, it's…" "Rainbow Dash," he said, filling in her sentence for her. "Exactly," she said proudly, "So… what's yours?" "I… don't have one…" he said. "Then I'll give you one!" exclaimed Rainbow. "Hmm," she said, looking at his cutie mark-less flank, "We're also gonna have to get you a cutie mark…" "It's on my to-do list," he said, covering his blank flank with his rather long, golden tail. "Trust me," said Rainbow, pulling his tail away and wrapping it around her hoof, "That stuff doesn't matter to me. But I'll give you a name." She looked him over and said, "How about…

Thunderbolt?"


	2. Thunderbolt and 'Bow

"I like it," he said, grinning. "So do I," said Rainbow Dash, "It has a sort of Wonderbolt-like ring to it. Anyways, let's start flying, Thunderbolt! Hey, can I call you 'Thunder' for short?" "Sure," said Thunderbolt, "Let's get going, 'kay?" "Yeah," said Rainbow, "You know the basics, obviously, so what do you want me to teach you?" "In short," said Thunderbolt, "How to be awesome like you." "A sonic rainboom?!" said Rainbow Dash, "Yeah, that's not gonna happen. I'll still train you, though. You got a house 'round here?" Thunderbolt shook his head. "Then you're gonna stay with me. Let's go train!" Thunderbolt took off. Rainbow grabbed his tail in her mouth and yanked him down again. "Not in the air! First we work out!" she said. "Okay, expert knows best," said Thunderbolt, flying close on her tail as she flew to her house.

They arrived at Rainbow's house and walked through the kitchen, down a flight of stairs and into her workout room. "Whoa," said Thunderbolt, looking around. There were wing weights and hoof weights and saddle weights. There were ponytail holders and leg warmers and other attire in a box along one wall. And along another wall were mirrors. They lined the whole wall, reflecting the entire room. Rainbow slipped on a set of hoof warmers, a headband and put her mane in a ponytail. "I… don't think I have anything that fits you," said Rainbow as she bent over to search through the large box once more. Thunderbolt stared, hypnotized by her swinging rainbow-colored tail. "No, not…" started Rainbow, cutting herself off and asking, "What are you doing?" Thunderbolt shook his head and said, "Sorry, you… um…" "Have a nice flank?" asked Rainbow. "I was going to say your tail is pretty, actually," said Thunderbolt. "Oh," said Rainbow, "Then you're not as much of a pervert as I thought. 'Kay, well I can't find anything in your size, except…" She pulled a rainbow-colored headband from behind her back and gave it to him. "It never exactly fit me," she said. Thunderbolt tried it on, it fit perfectly.

"Nice!" exclaimed Rainbow, "Now let's get to it! First thing I want you to do is a little warm-up exercise. Run in place for me." She demonstrated, moving her hooves so fast they became a blur. Thunder did the same and nearly tripped over himself before trying again and finally getting the hang of it. "There you go!" exclaimed Rainbow, "But quicker!" He moved his hooves faster, faster, and then he tripped over his hoof and fell over. Thunderbolt immediately got up afterward. "We'll work on it," said Rainbow, "Moving on! We're going to run up and down the stairs. Two at a time going up, one at a time going down. Got it? And NO WINGS. We need to work on your overall strength, not just wings. 'Kay? Ready? Go!" Rainbow bolted up the stairs, wings plastered to her sides. She went three at a time, back hooves, front hooves. Back, front. Back, front. She was almost leaping. She finished a lap and he was barely halfway. "come on!" Rainbow exclaimed, stomping her hooves on the deliberately hardened cloud floor. "I…" said Thundercloud, looking back and getting the evil eye from Rainbow Dash. "Okay," he said, grunting as he leapt up another two steps.

When they finished running up and down the stairs, Thunderbolt's thighs burned and his shoulders ached. "Ugh," he said as he wiped sweat from his brow, "Ever get sweat on your eyelids?" "If you've got skin there, you can sweat there," said Rainbow, "I've had sweaty things loads weirder than that." "Like what?" asked Thunderbolt as he stretched out. "Ears, the base of my wings, near the tips of my hooves…" listed Rainbow, joining him and stretching, "Stuff like that. Anyways, get ready for the next exercise. Now we're gonna do the real work." Thunderbolt felt like groaning, but he kept it to himself, nodded and said, "What's next, coach?" Rainbow looked just a bit shocked. Thunderbolt wondered why, but then Rainbow snapped back into her usual self and said, "Next we're doing wing-ups. I'll do them with weights, but I want you to do them without to start…" But although he was listening for instructions, it was that brief snap that Thunderbolt remembered later on.

After workout, Thunderbolt was totally tuckered out. He hobbled up the stairs after his warm-down and collapsed on the cloud-couch. "Hey, I know a much better place to go after workouts," said Rainbow, "Come with me." She led him out the door and into a little, hidden room under the house. It was barely lit, there was a very soft bed mattress and several massage instruments. "Usually I come here and massage myself after workouts," said Rainbow, "But since you're here, you can do it for me!" "I… Don't know how!" exclaimed Thunderbolt. "Then learn!" exclaimed Rainbow, throwing herself face first onto the mattress and gesturing for him to come over. She flicked her tail a few times before it finally lay flat on the bed. "I'll try," said Thunder, biting his lip as he trotted over.


	3. After Workout

"I have one question," said Thunderbolt as he straddled Rainbow's lower back, on his knees, starting at her shoulders and working out the firm spots. "Ugh…" said Rainbow as he continued, though she had a smile on her face, "Shoot." "Why'd you snap a little when I called you 'coach'?" asked Thunder. "Nopony…" said Rainbow, groaning intermittently as she continued to breathe heavily, "Ever called me that… before. I just remember… calling my flying coach that… when I was a filly. He was a hard, firm, annoying guy. I thought that, if somepony called their coach that, it meant that their coach was mean and nasty. I… ugh… didn't want to be that pony. But… apparently…" "You're not that pony," said Thunderbolt, stopping his massage to look her in her deep magenta eyes, "I was being respectful. I'll call you 'Rainbow Dash' if you want." "We're friends now," said Rainbow, "You don't have to call me by my full name. Twilight calls me by my first name, Pinkie calls me 'Dashie', Rarity only calls me by my full name because she thinks it's formal, Fluttershy does the same because she's shy, Applejack calls me by my first name too. But… I think you should come up with your own name. I'm getting kinda bored of ponies calling me by my first name." "How about…" Thunderbolt, thinking, said, "How about I call you 'Bow'?" "I do call Fluttershy 'Shy' sometimes," said Rainbow, "So… sure, I guess. Just promise me you won't do that in public, 'kay? I've got a reputation to maintain." "Okay, 'Bow," said Thunderbolt, continuing his massage and moving down her back.

"Now I have a question for you, Thunder," said Rainbow. "Shoot," said Thunderbolt. "You… ugh… can't have come… all the way to Ponyville from… wherever you live… for me," said Rainbow before Thunderbolt cut her off. "Yeah, I did, actually," he stated, blushing. "Where do you live… anyways…?" Rainbow vaguely half-asked between deep breaths and enthusiastic sighs. "On a small island on the south-eastern coast, off the edge of Equestria," specified Thunderbolt. "Oh, I think I met a pony from there, a little while ago," said Rainbow, "How'd you get here?" Thunderbolt simply unfolded his wings. "Impressive endurance you've got there, kid," said Rainbow, apparently using 'kid' every time she complimented somepony. "Thanks, 'Bow," said Thunderbolt. "Still getting used to that nickname," said Rainbow, immediately letting out a deep sigh as several pops came from her spine. "My turn now," said Thunderbolt. "Nuh-uh," said Rainbow, wiggling her wings. "Oh, right," said Thunderbolt, moving his hooves apart to work on her wings.

Thunderbolt picked her right one up and began rubbing it between his hooves. It felt rock-solid, fairly bony as well. "What am I supposed to do?" he thought. As if she'd read his mind, Rainbow said, "Press a little harder, will ya? I can't feel a thing!" Thunderbolt nodded, though he knew that she couldn't see it. Rainbow's wing gave a little as he pressed harder. She let out a deep sigh as he continued to press down. Then he moved to the other one, it was equally rock-hard as the first one had been, but as Thunderbolt pressed on it, it gave more and more. "Ah…" said Rainbow, tilting her head back and then laying back down, sighing. She was breathing harder, but unlike in the workout, they were enthusiastic gasps. As he continued, he remembered a point in their workout where she had pulled a muscle in her wing and started crying. She wasn't sad, just in huge amounts of pain. He remembered Rainbow saying, "I'm… not crying. This is liquid pain." And that was enough to put a smile on Thunderbolt's face.

Then Rainbow said, "Hey, Thunder?" "Yeah, 'Bow?" asked Thunderbolt. "I was wondering if you'd be ok with trying something else…" said Rainbow. "Probably," said Thunderbolt, "Shoot!" "There's something I wanna try out," said Rainbow, flying over to the chest that held the massage equipment. Thunderbolt stayed put, watching her rummage through the trunk. "Here they are!" exclaimed Rainbow, flying back over to the bed and sitting down. "What are they?" asked Thunderbolt. "They're hoof-held heating pads," said Rainbow, "Put 'em on your front hooves. I kinda wonder how this'll feel…" "Probably awesome," said Thunderbolt as he put on what looked like beige socks and felt stiff, like they'd just been starched too much.

The heating pads became warm almost instantly. "Wow, that was fast," thought Thunderbolt as he walked over. He resumed his stance, straddling Rainbow's hips. He tried hard not to laugh as her tail twitched. "You ready?" Thunderbolt asked Rainbow as he held his forehooves up. Rainbow smiled and nodded. He immediately put his forehooves down onto her wing-joints, and a shiver ran down her spine. "That. Feels. So good," said Rainbow, "Do it again, harder!" "Okay then," said Thunderbolt, doing the same thing but pressing down afterwards. Rainbow's eyes went wide, the kind of amazed stare a little filly has when they first see a winter snow. "Dear Celestia, do that again!" exclaimed Rainbow, "Harder!" Thunderbolt then did the same but then he continued to rub back and forth up and down both wings at once. An exhilarated gasp erupted from Rainbow as he did so. He stopped momentarily, looking over at her. "Kay, now it's your turn. You prepared for awesomeness?" asked Rainbow, flying up and motioning for Thunderbolt to lie down. "Ready," said Thunderbolt.


	4. Do You Have Anything Worth Living For?

The next morning, Thunderbolt awoke on the little room's mattress; Rainbow sprawled across him, snoring softly. He resisted the urge to move or do anything at all and simply lie there, watching her sleep. He watched carefully how her prismatic mane shifted when she snored, how her tail twitched occasionally, how her hind legs would shift. He was so hypnotized by the sky blue pegasus that he failed to notice that she'd woken up. "I knew you liked my mane, but I didn't know you liked it that much," said Rainbow, her eyes half-open sleepily as she looked up. Thunderbolt remembered that he'd had one of his forehooves in her mane the whole time. "Oh, sorry," he said, attempting to move his hoof without disturbing Rainbow too much. Rainbow reached up and pressed his hoof back down. "I didn't tell you to stop," she said.

After they finally got out of bed and had a nice, leisurely breakfast, it was time to train some more. "This time," said Rainbow, "We'll be doing some agility training! We're flying through Ghastly Gorge." Thunderbolt, scared at even the thought of the place, gulped. "Oh, come on," said Rainbow, "You said you wanna be as awesome as me. Well, I can do it. So you're gonna do it with me! Don't worry, scaredy pony, I'll be there with you. Now let's get going!" "O… Okay, 'Bow, I'll try," said Thunderbolt, taking off and flying with Rainbow Dash over to Ghastly Gorge.

When they arrived at the entrance to the gorge, Rainbow readied her wings, looked over and asked, "You ready, Thunder?" Thunderbolt got ready to take off and said, "Ready." He'd decided that, if Rainbow could do it, he could do it too. They took off; Rainbow did a few aileron rolls. "Whoa," said Thunderbolt. "It's not that hard," said Rainbow, "Here, try it with me. Glide, and then lean real far in the direction you wanna roll. "Whoa…Whoa…Ah! Oh, okay!" exclaimed Thunderbolt, doing a few himself. "You got it! You've got it, Thunder!" exclaimed Rainbow, impressed, "Kay, now try this!" She did several consecutive barrel rolls. He looked at her motions and copied, but only managed a single one. "Still pretty good," said Rainbow, "Now you're gonna have to apply that! Here are the bramble bushes!" Rainbow dashed into the wall of spikes, navigating with extreme precision and quickness through them. She came out the other side, pulled a few spikes out of her forelock, and waited for Thunderbolt.

Meanwhile, Thunderbolt was applying his newly-learned flying skills and newly-acquired strength from yesterday's workout and the day before's journey across Equestria. "This is actually not that hard," he said to himself, immediately ducking an overhead thorn branch. Then he emerged from the thorn patch, only to find Rainbow already there. She mock-yawned and said, "Oh, hi, Thunder. Was wondering when you'd show up. Anyways, let's keep at it!" Thunderbolt smiled for some reason, then nodded to Rainbow and continued flying. "Next obstacle," said Rainbow, "are the quarry eels. You know about those, right?" Thunderbolt nodded, though he was quite worried he kept it to himself. "You're gonna need some of those new moves soon," said Rainbow as if it was nothing, "Cause this is also a rockslide-prone area!" Then she dashed off, dodging the quarry eels as they lunged out, glaring their angry glares at her. Thunder stared at her, admiring her beauty and grace in the air. The sky blue pegasus performed perfect loops, zigzags, rolls of several different sorts and tons of other things before stopping around halfway through and screaming, "You coming?!" while dodging another quarry eel. "Uh, yeah!" Thunderbolt screamed back to her, flying ahead and doing his best to dodge the eels.

Thunderbolt copied Rainbow Dash's exact motions and soon he was nearly halfway. But just as one eel crashed its huge head into the other side of the rather thin section of the gorge, there was a rockslide. Suddenly, his coach's movements no longer being the perfect route, Thunderbolt relied purely on instinct. He stayed in one place, dodging the rocks this way and that. But it didn't seem to stop, and the rocks were getting bigger. Thunderbolt bit his lip and looked left and right. But just at that moment…

A large boulder fell right on top of him. It shoved the pegasus about a hundred feet down, but there was still a bunch of room left below him. He tried to shove it off, to fly out from under it, but it just wasn't possible. Thunderbolt squinted and shoved upwards with all his wing strength. He felt like giving out, giving up, letting go. But he kept pushing. Then he heard another pair of flapping wings among the crashing of rocks. He opened one eye, just barely, enough to see Rainbow, flying over to help him. Then he remembered something…

~The day before, toward the tail-end of their workout…

"I'm… gonna DIE!" exclaimed Thunderbolt, dragging himself up for another set. "No you're not," said Rainbow with a sigh as she turned around. She, too, was sweaty, but she wasn't quite as impacted. Actually, she was nowhere near as tired. Thunderbolt collapsed in a heap, leaning against the wall, after several failed attempts to get up. Rainbow looked at him and she saw his condition, then she walked over to him and offered him a hoof. "Okay," she said, "But when you die, remember my name for me?"

~Present time…

Thunderbolt squinted, and then he opened both eyes. He had no open hooves to wipe the immense amounts of sweat off with, but he kept going. He heard that voice, _her _voice, echoing through his head. "Remember my name for me…" "Okay," Thunderbolt thought aloud, "I'll… remember you." Then he remembered the lines of a poem, he couldn't remember the name of it, it said something like this.

"Although it's easy to find something to die for,

there is love and life and hate and war,

for you I have one question more:

Do you have anything worth living for?"

"Yes," muttered Thunderbolt, "I have _her_." "Thunder!" exclaimed Rainbow, trying to find him, still searching, "Where are you?!" He grunted from underneath the boulder, he felt unable to say anything. He just repeated her name, over and over again, in his mind. "Rainbow Dash, Rainbow… Dash… Rainbow Dash…" He continued thinking until he started muttering it, softly, aloud, as he kept pushing upward as the boulder tried to push him down. Surely she couldn't see him under this huge stone… So he had to say something. Something audible, even through a rockslide. He squinted harder, gritting his teeth as he said her name, over and over, through his teeth. The last line of the poem rung in his mind…

"Do you have anything worth living for?"

"RAINBOW DASH!" he exclaimed at the top of his lungs, one final burst from his wings heaving the boulder at least twenty feet upward. She heard this, loud and clear, through the rockslide. Rainbow flew down to him and helped get the huge stone off his hooves, literally. They tossed it down into the gorge and flew straight upwards, escaping the rockslide. They landed at the edge of the gorge, where Thunderbolt immediately collapsed.


	5. We'll Go to Sugarcube Corner, Sugarcube

When he awoke, Rainbow was sitting next to him, looking down at him. He opened his yellow eyes and looked up at hers. "Are you okay?" Rainbow asked worriedly, apparently since nopony was around she was able to drop the 'cool girl' facade. "Yeah," said Thunderbolt, "So… Are we done for today, coach?" "Please," Rainbow said in her signature accent, and then she dropped it altogether and said in much softer voice, "um… please call me 'Bow." "Sure, 'Bow," said Thunderbolt, "So, want to go home now?" "Good idea," said Rainbow.

The next day, everything was back to normal. Thunderbolt had several pulled muscles, but he shook it off (just like Rainbow would). He decided that he'd go to Sugarcube Corner and get a milkshake; also Rainbow had told him that Pinkie Pie (one of her friends) was there. So Thunderbolt flew to Ponyville proper and to Sugarcube Corner.

He arrived there and took a few moments to admire the gorgeous and well-designed architecture of the place. It looked like a gingerbread house! There were white icing-shaped strips down the sides and, as the name implied, the place was on a corner. He entered the building and walked up to the counter. There was nopony there. Suddenly a pink pony with a cotton candy colored, frizzy mane ran up to him. "May I help…" she said before erupting in a huge gasp with which her body defied most of the laws of physics, and then she exclaimed, "You're that new pony, aren't you?!" "Yes," said Thunderbolt, confused, "I got here two days ago…" "Oh, oh, oh!" exclaimed the earth pony, "I'm so, so, so sorry! I totally didn't throw you a welcome party! I'll get right to it as soon as I'm done with work today!" "Um," said Thunderbolt, "It's quite all right. Mind telling me your name?" "Pinkamena Diane Pie!" exclaimed the pony exuberantly, "But you can call me Pinkie Pie for short. Or you can just use my first name and call me Pinkie! That's fine too! What's your name?!"

"Thunderbolt," he answered plainly, at least, compared with Pinkie's endless exuberant babble, "And it's okay. Chill. I just came for a milkshake." Pinkie immediately erupted in a giggle fit. "What?" asked Thunderbolt, confused. "You're telling me to chill, then you ask for a milkshake! Anyways, coming right up! I had it ready five minutes ago!" She ran to the back and pulled out a chocolate milkshake with no whipped cream and a bowl of cherries on the side. It was just how he'd order it. "You hadn't met me as of five minutes ago!" exclaimed Thunderbolt, even more confused. "Yeah, so?" said Pinkie as if nothing was wrong. She looked over at the clock and said, "Oh! My shift is over!" Then she pulled a vanilla milkshake with tons of whipped cream on it with a really bendy, goofy straw in it out of the back room. "Can I sit with you?" asked Pinkie. "Uh," said Thunderbolt, "Sure, I guess."

They walked over to a booth and sat across from each other. "So," said Pinkie as she sipped her milkshake, having licked the whipped cream off first, "I hear you're here 'cause of Dashie! Is that true?" "You mean B… I mean Rainbow? Yeah, I am," replied Thunderbolt, catching himself as not to break his promise. He thought about her, imagined her face as if she were hovering right beside the table. "Equestria to Thunderbolt…" said Pinkie as she waved a hoof in front of his face. "Oh, sorry Pinkie. I zoned out a bit," said Thunderbolt. "Do you like her?" asked Pinkie. "Like her? Of course I like her! Who doesn't, she's the coolest pony ever!" "No, no," said Pinkie, "I mean do you like-like her?" "Don't tell her this, promise?" asked Thunderbolt. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" said Pinkie, at the last part pulling an actual cupcake out of thin air and squishing it in her face. Then she licked it all up. "Okay," whispered Thunderbolt, "Yeah, I do." "I knew it!" whisper-shouted Pinkie. "How?" asked Thunderbolt. "Well, staring off into space and blushing right after I mentioned her is a good sign," said Pinkie, taking another sip of her milkshake.

"It's really that obvious?" asked Thunderbolt, frustration creeping into his voice. "Not really," said Pinkie. "Whew!" said Thunderbolt. "Unless somepony mentions her name!" exclaimed Pinkie, breaking out into a giggle fit again. Thunderbolt facehoofed. "Just kidding," said Pinkie, "I've had crushes before. It happens! Once I had a crush on this pony that continuously would poke and pop balloons with his horn. But, you know, crushes are crushes, and they fade sooner or later. Well, I'll be seeing ya!" Then she finished the last of her milkshake in one big gulp without so much as a brain freeze and bounced up the stairs.


	6. Half-Empty or Half-Full?

After Pinkie Pie left, Thunderbolt was left with a half-empty milkshake and an emptier heart. Several minutes passed, and he sat there, thinking. Maybe the exuberant pony was right: maybe it was just a crush. Did that mean that whatever feelings he had for Rainbow would pass? That they weren't real? That's what it sounded like, anyways… Thunderbolt heaved a deep sigh as he took a final sip of his milkshake and pushed aside the slightly-less-than-half-empty glass away. He then collapsed onto the table. "You real upset for a reason, Thunder?" asked a familiar voice.

Thunderbolt looked up. He saw Rainbow Dash, hovering there next to the table, exactly like his half-hallucination earlier. "Oh, hi, Rainbow," Thunderbolt sighed, barely lifting his head up off the table and turning it vaguely in her direction before slumping down again. "May I… sit down?" asked Rainbow. "Sure," said Thunderbolt, his voice sounding halfway between irritation and tiredness. "Thanks," said Rainbow, honest thanks in her voice as if he was the only pony who'd come within twenty feet of her. She looked at him, slowly reaching over to point at his half-finished milkshake. "You…" started Rainbow, "Are you going to finish that?" Thunderbolt shook his head. Rainbow started to take a sip when she stopped and looked at Thunderbolt. He continued to stare at the table.

"May I have it?" asked Rainbow politely. Thunderbolt nodded. She took a long sip and said, "Ah, that hit the spot. I heard you were coming here and… I… um… I decided to join you after my workout. You look real depressed, though. You okay?" She had a worried look in her eyes. Thunderbolt looked up into those eyes and sighed again. "No, not really," he replied. "Why?" asked Rainbow. He didn't know if he could find the strength to tell her. He looked back down at the table again, unable to bear those eyes. He shrugged. "I'm not so happy either, to be honest," said Rainbow, the look in her eyes going from worried to outright sad, "But at least I have the strength to look somepony in the eye." Thunderbolt looked up. "What's wrong?" he asked. "Promise, pinkie pie promise you won't tell anypony?" asked Rainbow, worried like she hadn't been since they were caught in that rockslide. Thunderbolt nodded. "I can't manage a sonic rainboom," Rainbow whispered. "That's not a big deal," said Thunderbolt. "No, no, you don't get it," said Rainbow, sadder than ever, "The sonic rainboom is my trademark thing. It's what I did to win the Best Young Fliers competition. And now…" she lowered her voice to a whisper again, "And now I can't do it anymore."

Thunderbolt picked Rainbow's chin up and looked into her eyes as she stared into his. "You'll get it back, trust me," said Thunderbolt caringly, "I know you will." "What if I don't?" asked Rainbow, but before she could say any more Thunderbolt cut her off. "You will," he said. Rainbow smiled, still with worry in her eyes despite it, but she smiled. "Okay," she said, "I'll take a little break and when I come back, I'll do it." "You know best," said Thunderbolt, a smile finally managing to creep its way onto his face. "Let's go home, okay?" asked Rainbow. "Good idea," said Thunderbolt with a nod, walking out the door of Sugarcube Corner and taking off.

Once they got back to Rainbow's house, the sun was already starting to set. "We should think about bed," said Thunderbolt. "I already am," said Rainbow, yawning. "She's so cute when she yawns…" thought Thunderbolt, and then he shook the thought out of his head. He couldn't be thinking stuff like that. What if she noticed? She wouldn't want to coach him anymore, certainly. She might not even want to be friends with him anymore. So he looked in the opposite direction. "Hey, Thunder? The bedroom's this way…" said Rainbow, tapping him on the shoulder. He looked over at her and hit himself in the forehead. Then he nodded and followed her.

The two walked into Rainbow Dash's bedroom, it was colorfully adorned with Wonderbolts posters and merchandise. There was a sky blue blanket, the same color as her coat, with her cutie mark on it. The mattress was dark cyan, the pillows a slightly lighter blue. There were gold medals and tons of trophies all over the walls. There were a few motivational posters hanging on the ceiling over her bed. "So this is how winners are made," said Thunderbolt as he admired the room. "To any other pony, I'd say something like 'it fits, because I'm awesome'," said Rainbow, as she spoke Thunderbolt thought he saw a hint of red on her blue cheeks, "But to you I'll say the truth: that it's just some things to help me remember who I am. Sometimes you can forget that, you know?"

Rainbow's words were truer to Thunderbolt than she'd realized they'd be. He didn't exactly know who he was, or what he was doing there. "Well, I'll be leaving now," said Thunderbolt. "Oh," said Rainbow sadly, "O… okay…" She stared at the ground and kicked a hoof at the floor, and continued, "If you really want to go, I won't stop you. There's a spare bedroom down the hall, two doors over to your right." She sighed and climbed into bed. "If you want me to stay here, I'll stay," said Thunderbolt, painfully aware that he was blushing. "That would be nice," said Rainbow, "This bed always feels like an ice cube!" "I read somewhere that, if you and some other pony get real close to each other, you can conserve heat. Wanna test it?" asked Thunderbolt. "What have I got to lose, I'm going to be Icicle Dash any minute now anyways!" exclaimed Rainbow with a giggle. Thunderbolt trotted over and got in bed.

"You're right, this bed is a bucking ice cube!" exclaimed Thunderbolt with a shiver. "Then come over here!" Rainbow said. "Okay," said Thunderbolt, scooting over. And the two embraced each other (for the sake of not turning into icicles) as they watched the sunset through Rainbow's window and talked about random stuff. "How much wood could a woodchuck chuck wood chuck… oh, I messed up again!" exclaimed Rainbow. "It's okay," said Thunderbolt, "I'm not faring any better. Watch me fail epically: How much wood could a could-chuck wood if a woodchuck wood-chuck… See, I messed up again!" "Hey, 'Bow?" asked Thunderbolt, "On a side note, I have a question." "Go ahead," said Rainbow. "Who do you like?" asked Thunderbolt, "As in… you know…" "Who do I have a crush on?" asked Rainbow. Thunderbolt nodded. "Well," said Rainbow, "Nopony at the moment…"

Thunderbolt's heart just about gave out. "Okay," he said, pokerfaced, "But if you were to like somepony, what would they have to be like?" "Well," she replied, "Let's see. They'd have to be cool…" Every time Rainbow would say something, Thunderbolt would mentally judge if he fit the category. Rainbow continued, "And nice, and they'd have to be a pegasus, because I'd want to go flying with them. Oh, and they'd have to be real fast, 'cause I'd want to try something out with intertwining sonic rainboom trails and stuff like that. They'd have to be loyal, like me, that's my Element, remember? And also they'd have to be able to cheer me up when I feel bad. Hmm… now that I think about it… nah, I don't think he likes me."

"Who?" asked Thunderbolt. "Nothing," said Rainbow, "We should get some sleep. It's gonna be a nice Sunday tomorrow." Thunderbolt thought he saw a thin line of red forming on her cheeks as she snuggled under the blankets. "You should too," Rainbow hinted, gesturing with a hoof. "Coming," said Thunderbolt, climbing under the silky sheets. "Tomorrow's gonna be a good day," sighed Rainbow, "I just know it."


	7. A Brand New Day

The next morning, Rainbow Dash and Thunderbolt awoke to the rising of the sun. Rainbow Dash didn't have weather duty that day, Sunday was her day off, and the other pegasi handled it. As such, she got up rather leisurely, as did Thunderbolt. "So," asked Rainbow as she sat up in bed, "What do you wanna do today, Thunder?" "Dunno, how about you, 'Bow?" asked Thunderbolt. Rainbow's stomach growled. "Well, I think my stomach just answered for me," said Rainbow, "Wanna get breakfast?" "Nice idea," said Thunderbolt, "Let's fly there."

When the two reached the restaurant, a little place where you would eat outside, they finally landed. "A table for two, please," said Rainbow, wrapping a hoof around Thunderbolt so the waiter knew who it was. "Yes, ma'am," he said, "Right this way." They arrived at a table and the waiter said, "May I take your order?" "Yes," said Rainbow, having come there often for breakfast on Sundays, "I'll have the buttermilk pancakes, a short stack, no butter on them, please." "Your usual, in short, Miss Dash?" asked the waiter. "Yes, sir!" exclaimed Rainbow, licking her lips. "I'll have the same thing exactly," said Thunderbolt. "And I assume the usual drink as well for both of you, miss?" asked the waiter. "Yep!" Rainbow said. "Okay, your drinks will be here shortly, your food will be out as soon as it's ready," said the waiter, levitating his pad and paper back into his pocket and trotting off.

"What is your usual drink?" asked Thunderbolt. "I like sour stuff," said Rainbow, "So I basically get lemonade without the sugar." "Incredibly lemony water, in short?" asked Thunderbolt. "Pretty much," replied Rainbow. The drinks were brought and levitated over to the table, they were a light yellow color. They had a special stash of rainbow colored bendy straws they used just for Rainbow Dash. Since they'd ordered the same thing, the waiter had put one of those straws in each of their glasses. To top it off, they'd stuck a slice of lemon on the rim of the glass. "Cool," said Thunderbolt, "Thanks." Rainbow took a sip of her drink and licked her lips. Thunderbolt took a sip of his and flinched. He managed to swallow the incredibly sour drink and said, "I'd ask what was in it, but I already know. Ugh…" he shivered slightly as he continued, "What does this kill?" "This is much blander than they usually make it for me, actually," Rainbow pointed out, picking up the lemon slices from both glasses and squishing every last drop of lemon juice into her glass, "Oh, and in answer to your question..." Then she glugged at least half the glass down. "Cowardice," Rainbow finished.

"That's good stuff," said Rainbow. "I… still don't know how you… manage to drink that," said Thunderbolt, drinking it only by the drop. Rainbow giggled. "Your food," said the waiter, levitating over two plates of pancakes and two syrup containers. Rainbow opened her container and poured it onto her pancakes. The she took one off the top of the stack and started cutting it up into bits, eating each piece separately and getting syrup everywhere. Thunderbolt suppressed an urge to laugh as he mockingly did the same thing. "What's that saying?" said Thunderbolt. "Which one?" asked Rainbow. "I remember," said Thunderbolt, syrup dripping down his face, "It went like this: 'A good friend never lets their friend do something stupid… _alone._' I like that quote." Smacking her lips as she ate more of her pancakes, Rainbow nodded and said, "Me too." Though it sounded slurred because of all the pancakes in her mouth.

"Are you two done?" asked the waiter when he came over a bit later. "Thanks, yes," said Rainbow, syrup all over her face, the table, her forelock, the silverware, the vase… "Eleven bits," said the waiter. "Kay," said Thunderbolt, putting in the money. "I brought some too, you know," said Rainbow. "Keep it," said Thunderbolt, he placed an extra two bits on the counter as well, then said to the waiter, "This'll pay for the cleanup." Rainbow giggled and said, "Come on, Thunder. I wanna go do some flying and stuff now." "Nice idea," said Thunderbolt. Then the two took off. "What a cute couple," the waiter muttered to himself as he went about cleaning up all the syrup everywhere.

Meanwhile, Thunderbolt and Rainbow Dash where long out of earshot. They were on the outskirts of Ponyville where they were stretching out for some practice. "No avalanches this time?" asked Thunderbolt, recounting the events that occurred. "No avalanches," Rainbow said, "Just rainbooms. I'm gonna do it today." "You've always been able to do it," said Thunderbolt, "You just need some more _oomph_." "Is that even a word?" asked Rainbow. "Who cares?" said Thunderbolt.

"You ready?" asked Thunderbolt. "I think so," said Rainbow. "Please don't be nervous," said Thunderbolt, "I get nervous when you're nervous." "Yeah," said Rainbow, a determined look creeping onto her face, "Okay. I'm ready." "That's the Rainbow Dash I know!" exclaimed Thunderbolt, stomping his hooves happily, "Now get up there and give me a sonic rainboom!" Rainbow saluted and said, "I'm on it!" She flew up real high in the air.

~Now, let's change main characters for a sec, because this next part is best described from Rainbow's point of view…

Rainbow flew up into the sky, blowing away the fear and doubt and leaving her usual, hard shell of determination and coolness. However, there was one thing she held onto while she blew off everything else. One thing that she kept. Since the first time she'd seen him, she thought this hardworking pegasus was kinda cute… but once she got to know him, it was even more so. He didn't seem to return her feelings, though. But inside her own head, inside the safety of her own consciousness, she held onto that feeling. She stopped, several hundred feet up, where Ponyville was but a speck, and she hovered there. "This one's for you, Thunder," she said to herself, nopony else was that high up or even high enough to be within earshot. Then she started descending, flying downwards more and more, faster and faster.

Rainbow flapped her burning wings as much as she could, they felt as if they were on fire. But she pushed on, holding onto that feeling. Extending her hooves, pressing them together, pushing her face into her forehooves, keeping her wings perfectly timed, Rainbow continued with pristine form. Her heartbeat rung in her ears, for more reasons than simply that she was working hard. She felt the wind in her mane and across her face and it felt GOOD. She felt a stretching sensation, as if she was taffy in a taffy puller. That feeling was familiar, feeling it again was like seeing an old friend you hadn't seen in a long time, and it felt GREAT. But most importantly, at least to Rainbow at that very moment, more important than the rainboom or her reputation or flying… was love. And it felt AWESOME.

~And now we will slowly inch back to our usual character view…

There was a rainboom, and coming out of said rainboom with a rainbow-colored trail behind her, a gigantic grin on her face, there was Rainbow Dash. From Rainbow's point of view, she was finished with her goal and was now trying to impress Thunderbolt. From Thunderbolt's point of view, she was bloody well succeeding. The rainbow (dash) arced over all of Ponyville, drawing a beautiful trail over the small town. Then she slowed down enough for her trail to stop and she flew all the way back to the other end where Thunderbolt was waiting for her. "That. Was. Awesome!" exclaimed Thunderbolt. "I thought as much!" said Rainbow, holding out a hoof. "See?" said Thunderbolt, hoof-bumping her, "I knew you could do it!" "I have you to thank for it," said Rainbow, smiling. Actually, the whole world seemed to be smiling on those two.


	8. Misjudgment

"I have, literally, nothing to do today," Rainbow told Thunderbolt as they pondered over what to do. "Well, the sky is pretty today," said Thunderbolt. "I've done quite enough hardcore flying today," said Rainbow. "Then let's do some un-hardcore flying," suggested Thunderbolt, hovering a few feet up to meet gazes with Rainbow. "Okay," said Rainbow, "Let's go for an un-hardcore spin, Thunder." Knowing full well there was nopony else within earshot, Thunderbolt took her hoof and replied, "Okay, 'Bow."

The two flew leisurely through the clouds, Rainbow looked around. "You know, I never fully realized how pretty the sky was until now," Rainbow thought aloud. "You've never gone for a leisurely flight before?" asked Thunderbolt. "Not exactly," said Rainbow, "Whenever I'm flying, I'm either going someplace and need to be there fast, I'm going someplace with my friends and therefore wait up for them and am basically just hovering, or I'm working on my flying tricks. I never really get up here and just look around." "Not even on weather duty?" asked Thunderbolt. "My job is to boss ponies around, not to do the actual work. That's why it pays, I guess," joked Rainbow.

They flew up above the cloud layer and saw the sun's light playing on the clouds. "This is beautiful," Rainbow said in awe. "That fits," muttered Thunderbolt. "What fits?" asked Rainbow, her hearing quite impressive. "Oh, nothing," said Thunderbolt, looking away to admire the beauty of something other than Rainbow Dash. For a few minutes, they just looked around, left and right, up and down, until the two met gazes and stared for a moment.

That moment seemed to last an hour, and then the two both turned away at the same moment, muttering various things. Rainbow looked up and saw one cloud, it was hit by the sunlight in one certain way that made it look especially soft. It was above everything else, like a pedestal. "Hey, Rainbow?" asked Thunderbolt, "You okay?" "Wanna race to that cloud?" asked Rainbow, "I haven't raced you yet." "That's only because you know full well I couldn't keep up," said Thunderbolt. "Try!" exclaimed Rainbow, dashing off. "Wait up!" exclaimed Thunderbolt, flapping as hard as he could to just fly at the same speed as her.

"First!" exclaimed Rainbow, touching the cloud. "Not-even-close second!" exclaimed Thunderbolt when he reached the cloud, a few seconds later. Rainbow giggled and did a little flying-cartwheel-thing, landing on the cloud and sprawling. Thunderbolt, unable to do anything nearly as cool or even half as graceful, simply landed. "What was that cool move?" asked Thunderbolt. Rainbow shrugged. "Dunno," she replied, "Some sort of flying quasi-cartwheel thing. Not sure." "Well, it was awesome," said Thunderbolt. "Thanks," said an embarrassed Rainbow.

Rainbow patted the patch of cloud between the two, motioning for Thunderbolt to move over. He didn't waste a moment. "It's so pretty up here," said Rainbow, looking down on the clouds that were progressively changing colors as the sunlight shifted. It was almost indescribable. "Yeah," Thunderbolt thought aloud, "It's not as pretty as you, though…" "I…" said Rainbow, "What?" "Uh… I mean… um…" Thunderbolt sputtered. Then he took off.

~Let's change character views again, 'cause apparently that's a fad!

Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, was sitting on the cloud with her face bright red. She stared, wide-eyed, while Thunderbolt flew off. It was several moments later before she realized fully what had happened and decided to go after him. Several seconds is a lot of time if you're in a speed sport, though, and so she had to fly quite fast. But Rainbow was faster than he, and soon she was almost caught up. "It's okay!" Rainbow shouted over the wind. "What?!" shouted Thunderbolt, Rainbow wasn't sure if he didn't hear her or he didn't know what she was talking about. Regardless she replied, "I said it's okay!"

Thunderbolt slowed down only a little. He looked back at Rainbow, she wasn't far behind and she was rapidly gaining. When she caught up with him, she neared, moved closer. "I'd… I'd always thought I liked you!" she shouted to him, "I just didn't think you liked me back!" Thunderbolt and Rainbow both stopped short. "You… you…" sputtered Thunderbolt, "But it… can't… You can't mean that!" His thoughts were a jumble. He thought that his feelings for her, they couldn't be real! And the same should go for any feelings she had towards him! "But I do!" exclaimed Rainbow, "I… I'll kiss you if it'll prove it!" Then it hit him: Rainbow Dash was a prankster. Always had been. Probably always would be. This had to be a really cruel but incredibly well-executed prank! "This can't be real!" thought Thunderbolt. Meanwhile, Rainbow was on the verge of tears. She'd expected a romantic, happy ending and she'd gotten confusion and disbelief.

Then Thunderbolt's expression changed from confusion to anger as he said, "You know, I'll have to give it to you." Now it was Rainbow's turn to look confused. "Don't play innocent on me," said Thunderbolt, "You know full well what you did. But as I said, very well done. Your prank turned out perfectly. However, there was one minor flaw. You have officially ended any friendship we had. Goodbye, Rainbow Dash. Be seeing you… hopefully never."


	9. Both Halves are Required to Make a Whole

Thunderbolt angrily flew off, unsure of where he was going. Rainbow Dash collapsed on the ground and cried. We'll follow the latter, for the simple reason that it would take a long time for Thunderbolt to get anywhere of any use (or to even know where he was going). Soon, somepony else was with Rainbow as well. "Rainbow? Are you all right?" asked Twilight. "Oh! I… um…" Rainbow sputtered, wiping the tears from her eyes in an effort to conceal the incredibly obvious, "Yeah, I'm… fine!" "Come on, Rainbow," said Twilight, lifting her friend's chin up to meet her gaze, "We both know that's not true." "Am I really that bad a liar?" asked Rainbow, wiping more tears from her eyes. "Um, no offense, but…" said Twilight before Rainbow cut her off. "Yeah, I am, aren't I?" Rainbow said. Twilight nodded and said, "Come on, Rainbow. Let's go back to the library, you can tell me what happened."

They arrived at Twilight's library, where Twilight had Spike make two cups of herbal tea (the recipe she got from Fluttershy). "Okay, Rainbow," said Twilight as she sat down on a soft, purple pillow and levitated over the cups of tea to each of them, "Tell me what happened." "I… well, I'll start at the beginning," Rainbow began, "See, a few days ago, I was woken up by this handsome stranger. Normally, I don't let such a thing as waking me up from my afternoon nap slide, but he was kinda cute, so I did. Then I got the chance, and we lived together in my house. We did some workouts and stuff, he asked me to teach him. We got closer, and he helped me out with a bunch of stuff. Then… something changed… and now…" she almost started sobbing again, "Now he's gone."

"It's okay," said Twilight, "You're all right. You'll be fine. I predict that, at some point, he's going to realize how dumb he's been, and he's gonna come back and apologize." "But that's the thing," said Rainbow sadly, "He thinks I pranked him. He thinks I don't really have any feeling for him. He won't apologize if he thinks there's nothing to apologize for." "Well, this presents quite the dilemma," said Twilight, taking another sip of her tea with a quizzical look on her face. "Wait a minute," said Rainbow, a smile beginning to form on her tear-stricken face, "I'm… a terrible liar… right?" "I thought you didn't like that being brought up," said Twilight. "I didn't," said Rainbow, "But it might just be the way to get me… get us… out of this mess." "We just need to find him," said Twilight. "Um, that won't be hard," announced Rainbow, wiggling her wings. "Oh, right," said Twilight, "I keep forgetting you can fly as fast as you can." "Well, thanks, Twi," said Rainbow, running out the door and taking off.

Rainbow, remembering the direction in which Thunderbolt had set off, went in the same direction and flew as fast as she could. She had little strength left in her wings, but she used what remained to go at least fast enough to catch up to Thunderbolt. As she perpetually blinked the plasma out of her eyes, some of the things he'd said echoed through her head. "I haven't raced you yet," Rainbow heard her own voice, what she'd said before. "That's because you know full well I couldn't keep up!" she heard Thunderbolt's voice. "First!" she'd exclaimed when she arrived. "Not-even-close second!" Thunderbolt had said to her when he arrived. Although he was too preoccupied to notice (and Rainbow was grateful for that at the moment), Rainbow's wings hadn't been able to fold the entire time they were on that cloud together.

Then Rainbow's heart wrenched when she remembered what happened after that. Thunderbolt had said something outright romantic, something he didn't want her to know at the time, then he flew off. She remembered the burning she felt after that. Nothing like a pulled muscle's sting, a broken bone's stab, a tired wing's ache. Nothing like a hard day's work, a war with changelings, a flying competition. Nothing Rainbow had ever felt before, because she'd never been in love before, and she'd never had a broken heart. Thunderbolt had broken her heart, flown off and taken half with him. And now she was going to give him the other half, so she'd be fully his.

But first she had to get there.

The entire time Rainbow was flying, she was also looking around, trying to spot his dark blue coat, golden mane, bright and dazzling yellow eyes. "Love," Rainbow pondered in her thoughts, "Is like a workout. You can get hurt occasionally, and it'll hurt pretty good, but in the end, it's a good thing." "I'll tell him that when I get there," thought Rainbow. She didn't exactly know where 'there' was, but she had a feeling he'd still be up in the air. She had a feeling that he was going back to that little island he was from. Then, ahead of her, she spotted something.

At first it looked like a tiny dot of blackish something. Then it got bigger and more colorful, turning from black to dark blue with some gold. It wasn't moving away from her very fast, and it… at this point she was relatively sure who it was, though… he didn't seem to hear her coming. Therefore, she slowed down. She flew so slowly it felt almost wrong. She crept up on him, then she put her hooves over his eyes and said, "Guess who?"

"Rainbow Dash?" asked Thunderbolt, trying to turn around and just moving her around in circles with him, then he gave up altogether and said, "I thought I told you I didn't want to see you again?" "As of right now," commented Rainbow, "You haven't seen me. Just heard me." Thunderbolt sighed, "What've you come here for, anyways? I made it _quite clear_ I didn't want you around, you little prankster." "I've come to tell you that I didn't prank you," said Rainbow, taking her hooves off his eyes as he turned around to look at her. "Like I'm gonna believe that," said Thunderbolt, "You're gonna have to do better than that." "How about this, then," said Rainbow, "I made this up myself as I was flying here, after I went to Twi's place and she told me this: That I'm a terrible liar. Anyways, here goes.

Love is like a good, long workout.

It will hurt occasionally, and it'll hurt pretty good,

But in the end, knock on wood,

It's a good thing."

"You wrote that?" asked Thunderbolt. "No, silly," said Rainbow, "I didn't write it down. I made it up, but I didn't write it. That would imply I had a pad and a pen on me." Thunderbolt worked real hard to suppress an urge to laugh. "I have a question, though," said Rainbow. "What have I got to lose?" said Thunderbolt, irritated. "I was wondering if you… you know… have a crush on anypony." "One, but she's an annoying prankster and I wish I didn't love her," said Thunderbolt. "What can I do to prove I'm not pranking you?" Rainbow asked before she said, "Oh, I know. Wait a sec, this'll be cool."

Rainbow flew up, high up, far away. Thunderbolt just hovered there. Rainbow performed a pristine sonic rainboom, and as if that wasn't enough, she did a large, elongated loop right afterwards. Then she slowed down and sped up enough to stop her trail, then immediately get it back, then she did some more fancy tricks, most of which Thunderbolt couldn't name. Then she was done, and she hovered next to the ending of her last trail. It was then that Thunderbolt looked at the big picture and saw what she'd drawn in the sky.

Rainbow Dash had wrote, in beautiful cursive, _with her sonic rainboom,_ "I love you, Thunder." And Rainbow herself made the period at the end, smiling sheepishly. Then she flew over. "So…" said Rainbow. "She wouldn't do all that if she didn't really love you," thought Thunderbolt, "That must have been really, _really_ hard to do. It looks like it were written by one of Celestia's personal scribes. Now stop being such a coward and kiss her already, bonehead." "That was…" said Thunderbolt, at a loss for words. "You boys never know when to stop talking," said Rainbow, pulling him in and kissing him.

They hovered there in each others' embrace for at least five minutes, when Rainbow finally pulled away, slowly, she said, "Now, about that cutie mark of yours, I think I know what to do."


	10. A Sonic WHAT!

When Thunderbolt and Rainbow Dash arrived back in Ponyville, it was getting dark. "My place?" asked Rainbow. "Good idea," said Thunderbolt, opening the door as the two went inside. "You hungry?" asked Thunderbolt. "Nah," said Rainbow, "I'm too in love to be hungry." "Agreed," said Thunderbolt, ushering Rainbow up the stairs as the two went to Rainbow's bedroom. "I ordered a heating pad, it should be here in a few days," said Rainbow, "But for now, you'll have to do." "I'm fine with that," said Thunderbolt, climbing under the covers. "Scoot over here," said Rainbow, giving him those half-shut, seductive eyes. "No problems here," said Thunderbolt, happily obliging.

The next morning, Thunderbolt and Rainbow met in the same field on the outskirts of Ponyville where Thunderbolt had helped Rainbow with her sonic rainboom. Only this time, Thunderbolt would be the one trying to break the sound barrier. "I have a hunch," said Rainbow, beginning to sound like Twilight, "Fly as fast as you can." "That's nowhere near the sound barrier, not even close," said Thunderbolt. "How about if I do it with you?" asked Rainbow, "Then I can help you if you can't do it by yourself." "Okay," said Thunderbolt, nervously taking off with Rainbow on his tail.

Thunderbolt and Rainbow zipped off, each with their own trails. Thunderbolt's was dark gray, almost black, and it was energized with lightning. Rainbow's was… well… rainbow colored, as everypony knows. But Thunderbolt couldn't go any faster. There wasn't much turbulence in that area, so there was little wind to shout over. "So, you can't go any faster, you say?" asked Rainbow. "No, not a single bit," said Thunderbolt, "Not and sustain it, anyways." "I doubt that," said Rainbow. "Why?" asked Thunderbolt, "You're not me and you don't know my limits!" "Is Spitfire a good coach?" asked Rainbow. "Yeah," said Thunderbolt, "Why?" "She knows other ponies' limits without knowing the ponies themselves very well," said Rainbow, making her point, "Am I a good coach?" "Yeah," said Thunderbolt, "Oh. Okay. Next time, remind me to not argue with you." "Noted," said Rainbow, zipping ahead. "Hey, wait up!" exclaimed Thunderbolt. "I thought you said you couldn't go any faster," said Rainbow. "You're a good coach, all right," Thunderbolt sighed, catching up to Rainbow.

"You think you can go faster?" asked Rainbow. "The last time I said no, you didn't think I was right, and you were right that I wasn't right," said Thunderbolt, "So what makes you think that I think that you're going to think I've hit my limit this time?" "That was an incredibly convoluted way of saying 'yes'," noted Rainbow, flying just a bit faster. "Agreed," said Thunderbolt, not even bothering to catch up the two feet. "You can't go any faster, can you," Rainbow muttered, before saying aloud, "Okay then, c'mere." She slowed down a bit and grabbed his front hoof. "What are you… WHOA!" Thunderbolt said as Rainbow sped ahead, dragging him behind. Then she said, "I'm gonna let go of your hoof, in 3… 2…" "Celestia help me," Thunderbolt thought as Rainbow finished her countdown, "1." Then she let go.

At first he thought he was going to fall, but it ended up that he continued at Rainbow's pace with a blackish aura forming around his forehooves. "Whoa," said Rainbow. "You're amazed at that?" asked Thunderbolt. "Nah," said Rainbow, "I've just never seen an aura like that." Thunderbolt sighed, "Oh." "Well, you're nearing rainboom speeds," said Rainbow, now there was significant turbulence and she had to speak much louder. "Well, this is faster than I'd ever thought I'd go," said Thunderbolt. "I'm not sure what was going through your head while you were holding up that boulder," said Rainbow, "But you're capable of much faster speeds if you can hold up a boulder that big for that long." "That… wasn't just me…" said Thunderbolt. "Whatta ya mean?" asked Rainbow. "You know the process of creating emergency strength in certain situations and under certain circumstances?" asked Thunderbolt, presuming a pony so educated in flight would know what he was talking about. Rainbow nodded, "Yeah, I studied that in my third year at the Cloudsdale College of Flight, why?" "Same concept," Thunderbolt said, "Except the circumstances involved you."

"Well, what if I told you I was positive you'd get your cutie mark if you did this?" asked Rainbow, neither accelerating nor decelerating. "Uh, I still don't think I would do it," said Thunderbolt, well aware that he'd need some impressive motivation to pull off something this huge. Rainbow thought for a bit. "He doesn't have the competitive instinct that you do, Rainbow Dash," she thought to herself, "What does he want? Money? I don't think so. Plus, that's called bribing and it's not exactly good. I already brought up the most embarrassing thing about him, so… oh, I know."

"I'll do the rainboom with you," said Rainbow, "And you know what I was talking about earlier, about intertwining rainboom trails? That involves a certain level of intimacy…" "You mean…" said Thunderbolt, his face growing bright red. "Perfect," thought Rainbow, "Now I'll have a coltfriend who's not a blank flank! Apparently, the way to a pegasus's wings is through his heart. That works." "All right, but that's only if you can catch me!" exclaimed Rainbow, speeding ahead and coming real close to rainboom speeds. Thunderbolt sped up a whole bunch to catch up to her.

There was a sonic rainboom. However, there was also something else. A sonic thunderclap. Unlike a rainboom, which simply makes a booming noise, this made a long, drawn-out noise, like rolling thunder. Then Thunderbolt was followed by a lightning bolt-shaped trail. He easily caught up to Rainbow Dash (who let him do so), then she gave him this look of, 'well, what are you waiting for?'. They flew together and leaned the same direction, causing two barrel rolls around each other that is called a corkscrew. Except this was an extremely tight corkscrew.

Regardless of the spinning world around them, Rainbow Dash and Thunderbolt hugged and kissed as they flew across the Everfree Forest and into the plains past that and the rolling hills past that. When they finally decelerated enough to lose their trails, they pulled apart just a little and Rainbow said, "Wait, where are we?" They stopped altogether and Thunderbolt said, "No idea. Ponyville's that way." He pointed to where their trails had come from. "Well, let's fly back," said Rainbow, "Wait a minute. Look at your flank, Thunder." There was a light gray cloud with a bright yellow lightning bolt coming out of the bottom of it. "Well then," said Rainbow, "I knew we were similar, but not this similar…" Rainbow compared her cutie mark to his. They were identical in shape and size and only differed in color. "That's awesome," said Thunderbolt, "It's almost like we were destined to be together, 'Bow." "Almost, Thunder," said Rainbow as they started the long trek back to Ponyville, "Almost…"


	11. Welcome to Ponyville Party

~About a month later…

"I heard Pinkie Pie's going to throw you a birthday party, 'Bow," said Thunderbolt as they walked through Ponyville, the sun just starting to set. "Pinkie Pie will have any excuse she can to throw a party," Rainbow said. It was the day before Rainbow Dash's birthday, and Pinkie had been talking about it for weeks now. "True," Thunderbolt said, "I… have something to show you." "What is it, Thunder?" asked Rainbow. They'd been together for little over a month, it had felt like years to them. One thing about pegasi: they have this tendency to rush things. And by 'things', I mean everything. Regardless, Thunderbolt said, "Come with me."

They flew to the place, that open section of grassy land on that hill between the edge of Ponyville and the forest. Not the Everfree Forest, just a large forest beyond the hill. "Remember this place?" asked Thunderbolt. Rainbow remembered it, it was the place that Thunderbolt had helped her regain her signature Sonic Rainboom. It was also the place that, from which, Thunderbolt had taken off to do his Sonic Thunderclap and obtain his cutie mark. "Yeah," Rainbow said simply, reminiscing, "Lots of awesome stuff happened here. Why'd we come here, Thunder?" "There isn't really an easy way to say this," Thunderbolt said, "Watch this."

Lately, Thunderbolt had gotten MUCH better at his Sonic Thunderclap, so it was almost as effortless to him as Rainbow's Sonic Rainboom was to her. Almost. Regardless, he flew up real high and did a whole bunch of awesome moves as Rainbow watched. "His agility's gotten better," remarked Rainbow, "But I don't see what… oh. Oh my…" Just like how Rainbow had written in the sky, Thunderbolt had figured out how to do the same thing. And Rainbow realized why it'd be hard to say when she read it. The two hardest words for anypony to say were also the two that are the most endearing…

"Marry me?"

He'd written in lightning, sparkling in the evening sky. Rainbow, teary-eyed and red-faced, waited as Thunderbolt flew down. "The sky's pretty tonight, isn't it?" he said. "I…" said Rainbow, at a loss for words. Thunderbolt wiped the tears from her face and said, "A face as beautiful as yours deserves no tears." "Yes!" Rainbow exclaimed, sobbing in tears of joy, "Yes, I will!" She flew up and hugged him, dragging him with her as she grinned ear to ear.

They flew incredibly quickly to Rarity's, where Rainbow burst through the door, Thunderbolt by her side. "May I help you?" asked Rarity. Rainbow only barely managed to let her finish, exclaiming, "Make me a wedding dress, Rarity! I'm getting married!" Rarity nearly fainted. "I'll… get right on it!" Rarity exclaimed, "And I'll tell Pinkie to start planning it!" "No," said Thunderbolt, incredibly happy himself, "I think 'Bow is gonna go tell Pinkie Pie herself." "You got that right, Thunder!" exclaimed Rainbow, Thunderbolt and her bursting through the door and shouting back at Rarity, "See ya!"

They arrived at Sugarcube Corner, where Pinkie Pie was making the last of the day's cupcakes. "Pinkie! Pinkie, I need you to plan a party for me!" exclaimed Rainbow. "Ooh! For what, Dashie?" asked Pinkie, bouncing over. "We're getting married!" Rainbow and Thunderbolt said in unison. "Oh! Wow! Okay, I'll get right on it!" Pinkie said, obviously surprised, bouncing back and getting out her party-planning supplies. "Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh!" exclaimed Rainbow, then she took a deep breath in an attempt to slightly curb her ecstasy, "This is the best thing that's ever happened to me, that's for sure." "Even getting into the Wonderbolt Academy?" asked Thunderbolt. "Nope!" exclaimed Rainbow, "Not even getting into the Wonderbolts, PROPER, would trump this. Although… it's a close second." "I'd believe it, they're pretty awesome," said Thunderbolt. "Not as awesome as you!" exclaimed Rainbow, "C'mon, let's go check on how Rarity's doing!" "Would she have barely started?" asked Thunderbolt. "No, not Rarity, she's awesome at this stuff. That's why I asked her!" exclaimed Rainbow as she and Thunderbolt flew across Ponyville once again, Rainbow's current and seemingly endless energy helping a good bit.

Rainbow had the courtesy to knock this time. "Yes?" asked Rarity, "Oh, hello, Rainbow Dash! I've almost finished your dress, I'd like you to try it on! Also, although you didn't ask, I know…" Rarity led the two inside, demonstrating two mannequins, then she finished, "I made you a suit as well!" Thunderbolt's suit was dark gray with white accents, there was a good bit of yellow (accentuating the collar and cuffs) on it as well. There was a badge on the front that looked exactly like his cutie mark. "See, told you that Rarity's awesome at this!" Rainbow said as she looked over at her dress.

It was a very skin-tight, sleeveless dress with a relatively short, triple-layered train (for a wedding dress), it was accented with sky blue ribbons on the sides of all layers of the train and the neckline. There was a light blue hair band that shimmered with something that looked like ground sapphires, and there was a simple shoulder veil tucked into the ponytail holder. "Go ahead and try them on!" exclaimed Rarity, levitating the various bits and pieces off the mannequins and to each pony. "Okay," said Rainbow, rushing off to one of the changing rooms. "Sure thing!" said Thunderbolt, running over to another.

Rainbow walked out first. The dress fit perfectly and Rarity had given her a necklace that had her cutie mark symbolized on a charm in the middle of the golden chain. Thunderbolt walked out and his jaw dropped. "You… look…" he said, unable to say very much, "_gorgeous…_" "Why, thank you," said Rainbow, nodding. While she'd been out, Rarity had also done her a little makeup, "Just so they can see you from all the way across the room, darling," as Rarity had put it. A shimmering, pink lipstick, dark blue eyeshadow that cascaded to a slightly lighter shade as it got higher up on her eyelids, and just a tiny bit of blush. "That's what I was going for!" exclaimed Rarity, "Your to-be husband looks handsome as well, Rainbow Dash!" "I'd agree," said Rainbow, "Nice job, Rarity!" "Thank you," said Rarity, "I'll work on bridesmaids' dresses… just as soon as you tell me who your bridesmaids will be!" "You and the rest of my friends, of course!" exclaimed Rainbow (may I remind you, the Element of Loyalty), "Oh, and the ones you used for Twilight's brother's wedding should suffice." "No, that will never do! I'll start with all new designs!" exclaimed the fashionista, "Back to the drawing board!"

"I suggest you get out of those for now, I need to make a few touch-ups!" Rarity said, wiping Rainbow's makeup off. "You look much prettier without the makeup, if you ask me," said Thunderbolt. "Thanks," said Rainbow, walking back into the dressing room to carefully take the dress off. "Pinkie should be done with the preparations by now," said Rainbow as they walked out the door, "Thanks, Rarity!" "No problem, darling!" exclaimed Rarity, not even looking up as she jotting notes on a piece of paper and levitating fabrics around. "Everything happens so fast around here," Thunderbolt remarked. "That's what happens when everypony's so good at what they do!" Rainbow replied as they flew back to Sugarcube Corner to check up on the pink party pony's progress.

They arrived, and Pinkie had several long scrolls of paper, covered in party-plans. There were bags and boxes and packages filled with balloons and streamers and party hats, along with many other party supplies. Then there was the party pony herself, stuffing things into a light blue cannon. "Oh, hey, Dashie!" exclaimed Pinkie, not even looking up from her work as she continued to stuff things into the cannon, "What's up?" "Other than me?" asked Rainbow, hovering. "Ooh, that's so punny!" exclaimed Pinkie, "You know, pun and funny combined! Anyways, I'm almost done stuffing my party cannon, so as soon as we arrive at… wherever you're hosting this thing… I can just shoot it and we'll be all good!" "I was thinking an outdoor wedding, on that hill to the west, shortly outside the outskirts of town," said Rainbow, "You know where that is, right, Pinkie?" "Yes-indeedily!" exclaimed Pinkie, "Okay, I'll pack some portable tables and chairs and plates and forks and knives and… stuff… also! Okay then, thanks, Dashie! I'll be ready in five-ten minutes!"

"By the way," said Pinkie, "I'm kinda busy. Can you give out invitations?" She pointed to two baskets full of rainbow-colored envelopes, sealed with little dark blue stickers. "Nice design," commented Rainbow, "Sure, Pinkie! Wanna help out, Thunder?" "No problem, 'Bow!" exclaimed Thunder, picking up one basket in his mouth. "Great," said Rainbow as she picked up the other, "See ya, Pinkie!" Then the two rushed out the door to give out invitations.

After all the invitations were given out, Rainbow said to Thunderbolt, "There's only one more thing to take care of. You need a best mare." "There really isn't anypony who I'd be willing to give that position to," said Thunderbolt, scratching his head. He had no siblings, so that wouldn't be an option. He had no really close friends, and finally he said, "You decide for me. Pick somepony you'd like me to know." "Well, I have a little sister who you haven't met as of yet, she was off in Fillydelphia with the rest of her friends for the last two months," said Rainbow, "Her name's Scootaloo, she'll be back…"

"Rainbow Dash!" they heard a voice from behind them. Rainbow and Thunderbolt spun around to see a little, dark orange pegasus with a purple mane. "Hey, Scoots," said Rainbow, "You'd never believe what's happened over the last two months." "What?" asked Scootaloo, "Tell me tell me tell me!" "Okay," said Rainbow, "I'm getting married!" "You're… what?!" exclaimed Scootaloo, "Wow! I missed a lot of cool stuff!" "Yeah, you did," said Rainbow, ruffling her little sister's mane, "I have one question. Thunderbolt here doesn't have anypony he's real good friends with to be his best mare. Would you…" "Would I?!" exclaimed Scootaloo, "Of course! That's… like… a key part of a wedding, right? I'd do anything to be a key part of your wedding Rainbow Dash!" "Well, she took that well," muttered Thunderbolt. "If it involves Rainbow Dash, I'll take anything well!" Scootaloo said happily. "Okay," said Thunderbolt, "You going to ask your friend Rarity to make Scootaloo a nice dress for the occasion?" "Sure," said Rainbow, "I'll go do that." "I'll come with," said Thunderbolt. "Hey, you two," said Scootaloo, pulling out her scooter, "I'd assume Rarity's gonna need me there for measurements. Oh, and I'll ask Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle if they'd like to be the flower fillies!" "I like that idea," said Rainbow, "C'mon, Scoots!"


	12. A Non-Canterlot Wedding

After everything was ready and everypony went to bed and got up the next morning, Pinkie rolled in her party cannon. "Let's get this party started!" she shouted to the accumulated guests. Since neither had any family anywhere in the vicinity, they'd simply invited everypony in Ponyville. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had even showed up, given that this was the wedding of one of the Element Users. Celestia was handling the speeches there. Celestia and Luna each wore dresses similar in style to the ones they'd worn at Cadence and Shining Armor's wedding.

Rarity had made a few touch-ups on Rainbow's dress indeed, she'd put a layer of an extremely light blue lace over each layer on the train. She'd made the veil's lace into the same material, lining the edge of the veil with a thin, sky blue ribbon. She'd also managed to complete brand new dresses for each of Rainbow's friends, including herself, and they each wore sky blue headbands. And against Rarity's wishes, Applejack had insisted heavily on wearing her signature cowpony hat despite her mane's up-do (Rarity had done it up in a braid like she had for the Gala that one time). Although all the bridesmaids' dresses followed the same basic pattern, the hairdos varied greatly between them. Pinkie had two badly-done side buns (because Pinkie's hair is a nightmare to do anything with), Rarity put her own hair into a high braid-bun (where you bun a braid, quite self explanatory), Twilight left her bangs done and did a low ponytail at the nape of her neck that wrapped around over her shoulders, almost hiding her silver chain necklace, Fluttershy left her hair down but curled it a little to make it wavy.

Scootaloo's dress was by far the most extravagant of them (not including Rainbow Dash's), it was a double-layered silk gown with a near-nonexistent train, trimmed with dark orange lace on the tips (no ribbons) to match her coat. She also wore a necklace of pearls. Twilight had previously said that Spike would be a good ring-bearer, since he'd done it before. She was right. But as the wedding was starting and the guests were piling in, none of this even crossed the couples' minds. Most weddings have themes, this one was all over the place. There was the traditional Ponyville wedding archway, white silk, flowers and all, but that was about it for anything coherent. It just went insane from there. There were rainbow balloons and dark blue tablecloths and golden ribbons. There was Fluttershy's bird chorus and Pinkie with a signature, Crystal Empire flugelhorn. And Rainbow couldn't be bothered with _slowly, walking_ across the carpet and to her groom, oh, no. She had to make the carpet long enough to do a flipping sonic rainboom over to the platform. Why have flower fillies? Because Rarity insisted that every wedding must have them.

Despite the fact that neither the bride or groom had any family present, they compensated well with inviting the entirety of the Apple family, Rarity's family, Twilight's parents, brother and sister-in-law, Pinkie's family from the rock farm. Thank Celestia that Rainbow Dash had decided to make the carpet so long, otherwise there wouldn't be enough space for all the ponies who'd been invited. And so the wedding started. Birds chorused. Pinkie screamed, "FLUGELHORN!" into her flugelhorn. She knew not to do it more than once this time. Rainbow Dash sonic rainboomed across the field and landed on the platform, where Celestia started her speeches. So far, so good.

Rainbow couldn't listen to Princess Celestia's speeches as she listened purely to the voices inside her head. "This is it, Rainbow Dash, this is it," she thought, "You're gonna kiss him… in front of everypony… oh gosh…" She looked away slightly, blushing furiously. "And do you, Thunderbolt, take Rainbow Dash to be your lawfully wedded wife?" asked Celestia. "I do," said Thunderbolt, giving Rainbow a caring smile, causing her to look up again. "And do you, Rainbow Dash, take Thunderbolt to be your lawfully wedded husband?" Celestia asked, turning to Rainbow. "Well duh!" exclaimed Rainbow. "You may kiss the bride," said Celestia happily. And so it goes, and so they kissed. Now, Rainbow Dash is Rainbow Dash, so you can guess what happened next…

After the kiss, Rainbow turned to the entire audience and screamed, "BUCK YEAH! SEE THAT?! I'M MARRIED, EVERYPONY!" She threw herself into a giggle fit, Pinkie Pie joined her, falling onto the ground as her buns fell out, then Thunderbolt joined, and soon everypony there was laughing. When the giggle fit was over, Celestia smiled and sighed, "Spike? The rings?" Spike brought over a golden pillow with two rings on it. They were small and golden, very aerodynamic, good for pegasi. Celestia slid on each of the rings with her magic. "I now pronounce you… mare and colt!" exclaimed Celestia, "Pinkie Pie? I believe this is your area of expertise." "You betcha!" exclaimed Pinkie, pulling from behind her back a turntable and Vinyl Scratch with it, "Let's get this reception started!"


	13. Epilogue - What Even Rainbow Can't Rush

~A year or two later…

"Hey, 'Bow?" asked Thunderbolt, "What's that?" "Yeah," said Rainbow, "Sorry, I haven't been working out as hard as I should be…" Rainbow had just the slightest bit of what looked like a belly. "I don't think that's fat," said Thunderbolt, "Do you think…" "No," said Rainbow, "I don't think… you really think so?" "We'll get an ultrasound, then we'll see!" said Thunderbolt, "You think your wings can still carry you?" "Even if I am, that doesn't mean I'm helpless," said Rainbow, "Heck, I think I'll still be able to do a sonic rainboom!" "I'd suggest against that," said Thunderbolt. "I didn't say I was gonna," said Rainbow.

They flew to the Ponyville Hospital, where they got Rainbow checked. "We'll have your results in a day or so, Miss Dash," said Nurse Sweetheart, walking off. "What do you think?" asked Rainbow. "I think so," said Thunderbolt. "You'd just LOVE to have it happen, wouldn't you?" asked Rainbow. "Well," said Thunderbolt, "Uh… it'd be nice…" Rainbow rolled her eyes.

~The next day…

They went back to the hospital, where they met the Nurse again. "Oh, hello again, you two," said Sweetheart, "We have your results, by the way." She gave Rainbow a little paper. "I was right!" exclaimed Thunderbolt. "You were right," said Rainbow, "Okay, be prepared to be a father!" "I wonder what we should name him… or her…" said Rainbow. "We have months to figure that out!" exclaimed Thunderbolt, "You can rush a lot of things, but I don't think even you can rush a pregnancy." "Celestia knows I'll try, though," joked Rainbow.

**Wait a little for the next book, not sure what it's going to be titled, but it's going to be awesome. Trust me on this one! It'll be about their foal(s!). Cool? I thought so.**


End file.
